Posted by Alex C on March 16, 2004 at 19:32:08:
In Reply to: Holton BAT Response/Intonation posted by D.Graves on March 16, 2004 at 16:07:11:
Did you know that Holton made 3 leadpipes for the 345? One had great intonation but an inferior sound, one had beautiful response and sound but horrible intonation, and the other was a compromise. Most 345's got the 3rd choice. Some special orders got one of the others.
In over 20 years I found virtually no mouthpiece that made the response of the low register better. If I practiced regularly and covered the fundamentals, the low register spoke with authority. If not, I paid the price (and on more than one occassion). There are other fixes.
The Holton 345 was made infrequently, assembled poorly and attention to detail was forgotten, quality assurance ignored. There were two at the factory when I picked mine out. One was 4 inches shorter than the other.
I found many solder joints which were not sealed. Many. Check that out. I had some tricks, e-mail me if you want.
I'm very surprised that a 5th valve was put in the leadpipe of a factory CC Holton. These horns were copied from the 2 Yorks and a 5th can be added easily after the tuning slide. Was it added or simply cut?